Urban Planning

The Urban Planning Department manages the growth and physical form of the city. The Department plays an important role in leading and guiding all functions related to land use planning and development, including developing land use plans, policies and by-laws and by managing the approval processes for development applications.

MAIN SERVICE AREAS:

Development Control

Development Control ensures that all properties are developed and used according to the City’s Municipal Plan, Zoning By-law, and other applicable by-laws and regulations. This function is integrated into the City’s “One Stop Shop for Building, Planning and Development Services” to ensure a customer focused approach to all building, planning and development applications. Development Control generally focuses on:

Providing advice and guidance on planning and development applications;

Process Development Permit approvals to ensure that all development complies with the Municipal Plan, Zoning By-law and other municipal requirements; and

Respond to public zoning inquiries, including issuing Zoning Confirmation and Compliance Letters.

Development Planning

The Development Planning facilitates the orderly use and development of property in accordance with the City’s approved policies, by-laws, and development standards. Planning staff work with Engineering and other city departments to provide a customer-focused service that takes a proactive approach to application review, sound community planning, and well constructed infrastructure. The Development Planning division activities include:

Providing land use planning advice to individuals, businesses, government agencies and other associations involved with preparing development proposals;

Coordinating a weekly Development Review service with Engineering and Environmental Services Department and other departments to review preliminary development proposals and provide pre-application advice to developers;

Conducting site plan reviews on proposed development for compliance with Municipal Plan and Zoning By-law and other municipal requirements; and

Responding to development and site selection inquiries.

Subdivision Approval

The Subdivision Approval function focuses on ensuring an orderly approach to land development. It generally involves dividing land into smaller parcels in order to legally register separate ownership titles with the Land Titles office. Many of the subdivisions that the city deals with create new building lots, streets and land for public purposes. The Urban Planning Department coordinates the application process and facilitates a Development Review process with Engineering and Environmental Services, Parks, Recreation and Culture, Legal Services and other city departments and government agencies to ensure that all applications comply with the City’s Municipal Plan, Zoning By-law, Subdivision By-law, and other applicable policies and regulations.

Long Range Policy Planning

Long Range Policy Planning works to balance the environmental, social, and economic needs of the city as means to achieve the City’s vision of a livable, sustainable and prosperous community. To ensure development takes place in a rational manner, the Long Range Policy Planning division is involved in a wide range of activities such as:

Managing and implementing the City’s Municipal Plan, including growth management and planning for downtown and existing neighbourhoods;

Preparing and reviewing Neighbourhood Plans;

Preparing and reviewing Secondary Land Use Plans;

Developing of Urban Design Policies and Guidelines;

Conducting housing research and policy development;

Preparing Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Plans;

Compiling and analyzing data on population projections, neighbourhood profiles, commercial and industrial land inventories, and other data.

The division also serves as a resource and assists other departments with Environmental, Economic and Industrial Development, Recreation, Downtown, Heritage, and Sustainable Transportation Planning.